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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

An In vitro Model to Study Immune Responses of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells to Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection
Published on: December 10, 2013
Household transmission dynamics of human respiratory syncytial virus in China: A multicentre epidemiological and
Qiuyao Duan1, Xinwen Jin2, Xiaofei Fu3
1Department of Infectious Diseases and Zhejiang Key Lab of Vaccine, Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China; School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
Objectives:
To estimate the secondary HRSV infection proportion, age-specific susceptibility, inferred spread, and HRSV-A/B transmission patterns in Chinese households.
Methods:
This prospective case-ascertained household cohort in Zhejiang, China (November 2024-December 2025) recruited medically attended, laboratory-confirmed paediatric HRSV index cases aged 0-14 years. Ten-day exposure histories, Day 3/10 contact sampling, and regression models assessed household- and contact-level risk factors.
Results:
Among 179 households with 542 contacts, secondary infection was detected in 110 households (61.5%) and 218 contacts (40.2%); 46.3% were symptomatic. Children aged 0-5 years accounted for 86.6% (155/179) of inferred primary cases. Contact infection was highest among children aged 0-5 years (86.4% [38/44]), including all infants aged <1 year (17/17). HRSV-B-only households had higher contact-level infection odds than HRSV-A-only households (aOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.05-3.65). Concordance of sequences from the second hypervariable region (HVR2) of the G gene supported household clustering (97.7% [84/86]).
Conclusions:
Children aged 0-5 years were the main inferred household introducers and were highly susceptible, with infants aged <1 year being the most susceptible. Household transmission frequently involved spread from children aged 0-5 years to adults, supporting age-targeted household prevention.
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